The End...

Over the two weeks of Winterim 2014, 398 students and 54 faculty...

• climbed mountains and volcanoes around the world
• performed at least 10 times for groups of children
• interacted with adults with disabilities
• facilitated a basketball skills clinic for adults and children with disabilities
• painted, painted, painted
• transformed blocks of wood into useful pieces of art
• handmade 10 usable kayaks from scratch
• excavated an ancient dig site
• assisted with the ongoing construction of a community center
• taught children English
• practiced techniques for living healthier
• utilized watercolors to paint masterpieces
• worked in 18 different professional areas
• sailed through the Caribbean sea
• learned to be leaders
• attended and critiqued art events
• dove into the depths of the ocean
• designed  24 quilts, half of which were donated to children
• danced, danced, danced
• invented intricate board games
• kayaked several miles of Costa Rican waters
• led each other to overcome challenges
• taught over 400 children in over 35 classrooms around the world
• built 11 mud stoves
• documented two sporting events and a multi-day tournament
• observed the three branches of government in two major cities
• moved thousands of chess pieces to overcome their opponents
• crafted nearly 200 pieces of pottery, about 80 bowls will be donated
• produced and directed four original horror movies
• cut and ground hundreds of pieces of glass to create beautiful pieces of art
• constructed an outdoor food stand
• wrote 82 different articles about all the Winterim groups

Social Media Showcase

For the past two weeks, the Winterim Social Media Team (WSMT) has continued to blog, post, and tweet about Winterim 2014 news in order to create a lasting showcase of this year's amazing projects.  Trips to Boston (Cambridge Innovation Center), downtown Groton (Main St. Cafe), and Westford (Five Guys and Panera) have not slowed us down.  All we have needed for our work is wifi and one device (and maybe a plug if you still have an iPhone 3).

While covering the news about Winterim, we have attempted to write two articles for each of the groups so that every group would be well documented. We also made sure to write articles for groups whenever they contacted us, to keep the news as "live" as possible.  Aside from the Winterim Blog, we have also been posting daily on the LA Winterim Facebook, tweeting out information from LA Winterim Twitter, and posting photos from LA Winterim Instagram.

Each article posted to the blog needed to have text, media, and at least one link.  The other most important part of the article is the title. The titles of our articles are what viewers see first, and often may be the only thing they read before judging whether or not to read the article. We spent a good portion of our time thinking of, deleting, editing and laughing over titles. 

On the blog, we are able to track how many times pages have been viewed and where they have been viewed from.  As of today (Friday) at 12:30, we have 7878 total page views.  The page with the most views is:  The early bird gets the... plane? The page with the least view is: Going Under (go ahead and view it now!) With more followers on Instagram and Twitter, and likes on the Facebook page, we have increased the followers and readership of the Winterim material the most in any year.

Mr. Bishop, director of LA communications office, has provided us with feedback throughout the two weeks.  His most recent visit was full of compliments and thanks. He is wholeheartedly impressed with the content being produced and the management of the social sites associated with Lawrence Academy's Winterim program.

Leaving Paradise

Adventures in Sailing are on campus yet the blog just updated recently (we recieved two emails today about the updates).

They have had an amazing experience. Check out their last two entries:     Heading Home and Last day in paradise

• 
  

Painting the Sky

The Watermedia Painting Winterim group has been finishing up their projects on this last day of Winterim. They have been painting landscapes, nature, and still life. Also, they have learned about the culture behind water color painting and the technique and skill required to paint using water colors. Students have said that water color painting is much harder than they thought it would be when they first started two weeks ago. One of the more difficult features to paint on a water color painting is the sky, according to the students. The paintings are looking good and it is evident that all the students have learned a lot during their time in Watermedia Painting.

Canvassing Landscapes

The Visual Journaling on the Edge of the World Winterim group has been diligently sketching and painting in Portugal during these past two weeks of Winterim. They have traveled around Portugal to Lisbon, Evora, Olhao, and Sintra, all while painting the landscapes and life that they see.

They have tried to keep up with their daily updates on their blog. They tell of their adventures in the city, the countryside, and the houses they have stayed in during their time in Portugal. They plan on returning to Boston tonight (Thursday) at around 8:00pm. We wish them safe travels on their return back and we hope that they come back with entertaining stories and beautiful paintings.

The Later Bird Gets the... Plane Back Home?

With the last few days of Winterim having come, travel groups who spent two weeks in places all around the world are now starting to arrive back at Lawrence Academy.

The trips returning today (Thursday, March 13) are:

- Adventures in Sailing will be returning to Boston at around 9:30 AM

- From the Ground Up will be returning to Boston at 3:31 PM

- Visual Journaling on the Edge of the World (Portugal) will be returning to Boston at around 7:30 PM

- Dominican Service Project will be returning to Boston at 9:26 PM

The trips returning tomorrow (Friday, March 14) are:

- Sports Journalism will be returning in the morning

- The System will be returning in the early afternoon

- Project Peru will be returning to Boston at around 3:30 PM

- Hawaii will be returning to Boston at 5:05 PM

- Kayaking in Costa Rica will be returning to Boston at 11:45 PM

- Underwater Discovery will be returning to Boston at around 12:00 AM

The Can You Dig It? group will be returning to Boston at 7:35 PM on Saturday.

On behalf on Lawrence Academy, we wish all of the Winterim groups a safe return.

Note: Times are based on the limited information that the Winterim Social Media Team has access to. Times are also subject to possible changes due to delays.

The Guinea Pig Eating, Stove-Builders Return to LA

Last night we received word from the Project Peru Winterim group as they arrived in Cusco after having spent the past five days in a rural Peruvian town:

We are back in Cuzco after an incredible 5 days in the tiny rural community of Patabamba. We spent most of our days building mud stoves for the members of the community - 11 total - and totally immersed ourselves into the Peruvian culture, including eating a feast of guinea pig, which garnered a new appreciation for making something "from scratch." We will have plenty of stories to tell and experiences to recount but for the time being I've attached a few photos that should hold you over until our return home on Friday. We start our long journey from Cuzco tomorrow -- it's bittersweet to be leaving as we are sad to depart Peru but excited to see you all back home!

The Peru group will be traveling from Cusco to Lima this afternoon and will depart from Lima later tonight. The group will be arriving back in Boston on Friday morning.

Critically Critical

Everyone's a Critic has been writing about each of their visits to theaters and museums.  Read all of their critiques and view all of their cool candid photos on their own blog. 

For this week their plans included visits to the following places while they continued writing about their experiences on campus:

• Museum of Contemporary Art in Western, MA
• Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
• Boston Lyrics to see "Death of a Salesman"
• Huntington Theater to see "The Seagull" 
• Arts Emerson to see "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
• Boston Symphony Orchestra to hear "All Beethoven"

The Dance Fever is Heating Up

At first students in the Break It Down Winterim had to learn from each other. They created dances based on their limited understanding of movement.   However over the past few days they have learned legitimate moves and techniques from some highly qualified professional dancers.

The Copoeira is form of dance which combines Brazilian marital arts with dance moves.  They were instructed in this style late last week.  Check out this video of one of their teachers.

This week the focus has been on hip hop and break dancing.  When asked about learning this, one student commented that the teacher is very good.  He knows what he is doing and he has really helped the group gain some specific skills for this type of dance style.

A final dance performance will happen at 1:00 pm, Friday (3/14) in the Black Box Theater. 

Wall Dive - Profound and Vast

We received another detailed summary from the Underwater Discovery Winterim Group.  Words can't describe the underwater world they've experienced, so we look forward to seeing more photos and video from them when they return.

Tanning With Tanner at South Water Caye, Belize.

A week and a half ago, we arrived in Belize. None of us imagined the experiences that we would soon undergo. It’s a shame that it will all be over so soon but all good things have to come to an end. Yesterday we completed our dive training. After a series of open water dives and some academic class work we have finally become certified open water divers. Today (Wednesday) was our first free dive. As a group we descended to around 70 feet.  We were wall diving which means we dove along the side of the reef wall. The marine ecosystem on the wall is profound and vast. It would be impossible to write down everything that caught our eye, but among some things that stood out we saw a sea turtle, lion fish, trumpet fish, moray eel, and tubular sponges as high as four feet. After our dive today Tanner and I put together a video of our experience on the island. We have learned so much on the island and most of that is because of the wonderful staff here at IZE. Everybody is engaged with one another and that has made it very easy to befriend the locals and develop relationships with them in such a short amount of time. And obviously we have all been getting tanner with Tanner. Special thanks to Winterim models Craig Waldie and Erik Ekberg

Sincerely, Adrian and Tanner

Part of a Greater Good

This past weekend, the Special Olympics Winterim group facilitated a basketball skills clinic for the Special Olympics at the Yawkey Sports Training Center in Marlboro, MA. Students helped the athletes develop their skills in basketball and team building.




















This skills clinic was one of many venues throughout New England that hosted the Special Olympics this past weekend and the students in the Special Olympics Winterim group were part of a vast effort to help out the athletes and the Special Olympics in general.

Final From the Ground Update

The From the Ground Up Winterim group sent us this final update about their last day in the Dominican Republic and their reflections on their time there:

Hello everyone!

It's hard to believe this trip is almost over! This will be our last update from the DR, as we are heading out early Thursday morning and heading back to the States. It's hard to imagine that we are coming back to snow after the wonderful sun and warmth we have been experiencing. If only we could take the weather back with us!

Our last day here was nothing short of amazing. The group woke up early to experience a spectacular sunrise together overlooking the ocean. We then headed out to La Laguna GriGri, where we took a boat through a mangrove estuary and saw not only the mangroves but some wildlife as well. We swam at two beautiful beaches, enjoyed a delicious lunch of fresh lobster, fish, chicken, rice, beans, and platanos, and enjoyed the warm weather as much as possible before heading back to the snow and ice that awaits us back home.

As we headed back to the Beach Comber, we were pleasantly surprised by a visit from LA alum Maritza Menjivar ('07), who is currently in the DR as well! She worked at LA in 2011-2012, so she knew many of the students, and they were excited to see her. She stayed with us for dinner, and then we had our final reflection together as a group. First, the students said a very heartfelt and thoughtful good-bye and thank-you (led by the seniors) to our guide, Luis, who has been with us the entire trip. Then, the students thought about their overall experience and journaled about their five biggest "take-away" moments from the trip, as well as how they would take what they learned from the trip and apply it to their lives back home. Their responses showed just how much they have truly grown during this trip, as well as how much their work in the community genuinely resonated with them. We will further discuss their plans for action on Friday when we have our last day on campus. As the students put it themselves, it is important we hold ourselves accountable to making a difference even after Winterim ends, and we very much plan to do just that.

To say it has been a pleasure being on this trip with this particular group of students would be a gross understatement. The bonding they have done, the work they have executed, the overall experience they have created for themselves, and the communities they have worked with is truly remarkable. It has been a Winterim that the students, as well as the leaders, will remember always.

Hasta manana,
Kacey and Rob

Immersed in the Wild

Imagine kayaking everyday in the middle of warm ocean waters and living among the lush green habitat of Costa Rica.

Our Kayaking in Costa Rica group is doing just that.  They are safe and having a great time. It is a wilderness immersion Winterim at its best with no access to technology.  During this second week they will kayak a little bit more in areas where they may spot dolphins and whales, take in the sites surrounding them and possibly white water raft.

A Puerto Jimenez Beach

Have no worries about this group; they are having a great time and we look forward to seeing their amazing photos upon their return. They return to Boston late Friday evening.

"Everyday is Memorable"

The students in the Arc of Opportunity Winterim group have been helping out at the Arc Community Services Center in Fitchburg, MA for the past two weeks, interacting with adults that have developmental and physical disabilities. These students play games, draw pictures, and help the clients out in the workshop, a place where some of the more advanced clients can work for money. While they are doing these activities, the students talk to the clients about things like sports, music, and other favorites of theirs. The students occasionally find it difficult to talk to the clients, but for the most part they are able to have a conversation with them. When asked about any memorable moments they have had at the Arc, the students said, "everyday is memorable." They also said that the clients love having the students come and everyday the clients tell them that they love them and they will miss not having them around after Friday, the last day of Winterim. The students really enjoy going to the Arc, despite how exhausting it is, and they have found that they can learn a lot from being around these individuals.

From the Arc of Opportunity website

A Tricky Spider and a Magic Rock

The Something for Nothing Players have been traveling around New England this week, performing for children, and will continue to do so for the rest of the week. Based on what the Players have said, they are really enjoying performing for the children. When asked what it's like to finally showoff their work for kids one performer respond by saying, "It's awesome!" They have said that the children's energy throughout the performance makes it feel real and the children really look up to the Players. The Players also enjoy hearing and answering the questions that the children have after the performances.

The Something for Nothing Players' play is about a spider who tricks other animals into giving her their food by making them say a phrase near a magic rock that puts them to sleep for one hour. The animals then decide to get back at the spider by making her fall for her own trick. 

On Monday, the Something for Nothing Players performed at the Claremont Elementary Schools, in Claremont, NH, for grades 1-5. On Tuesday, they performed at Charlotte Avenue Elementary, in Nashua, NH, for grades 1-4. Today (Wednesday), they will perform at the Wellesley Community Children's Center, in Wellesley, MA, for preschoolers to third graders. On Thursday, they will perform twice at Campton Elementary, in Campton, NH, for grades 1-4. On Friday, they will perform twice at Maple Avenue School, in Goffstown, NH, for grades 1-4. We wish the best of luck to all the actors and actresses throughout their performances this week. Break a leg, Something for Nothing Players!

Here is their schedule for the week:

They Descend

Salyna posted on the LA Winterim FB page the update for Monday from Underwater Discovery. Check out that site to read about their first view of Nemo's home!

Post by Salyna Anza.

This update was received from Mr. Brescia and Andrew regarding yesterday's (Tuesday's) diving adventures:

Today (Tuesday), we became certified divers, which means it is our last day that we are obligated to be with an instructor at a depth of up to 60 feet. We spent a good portion of our dives at “the wall,” where we were on the edge of a 500- or 600-foot drop-off. We saw a host of marine life at this location of the reef, including barracudas, eagle rays, and parrot fish.

Declan Kelly, our dive master, began the day with instructions not to touch the bottom or come in contact with any of the coral, which we learned the other day is “built” by polyps acting like “microscopic masons.” We needed to practice only two skills in our first dive, mask removal at 45 feet and demonstrating how we had mastered neutral buoyancy using our oral inflater. This required that we remove our regulator two or three times in order to inflate our BCDs sufficiently to “hover” without touching the bottom.

On our first dive, we reached 60 feet and stayed there approximately 10 minutes before exploring the wall and then surfacing; on the second dive, we submerged at a different location of the same coral structure, and it was there that we all had our closest encounter with a spotted eagle ray, which glided by with much less effort than we needed to keep breathing while witnessing such grace. Nearly everyone took off their wet suits for the second dive to experience the gradual change in temperature during the descent. Ralph Flores, aka Tuff Love, challenged Mr. Brescia to a “game” of air consumption: he would descend with 600 psi and return with plenty of air when the rest of us would need no less than 1500 psi to complete the dive. Mr. Brescia surfaced with approximately 1200 psi and Ralph had 150, confirming that the dive masters have learned to consume a fraction of air needed by the rest of us.

Armed with a camera, Islambek Mussayev took nearly 100 photos, one of which features these two bloggers, Andrew Jean and Mr. Brescia. (see above)

At the end of our two dives, Declan gathered us all together for a group photo and told us to  be ready for our first open-water dive as fully certified open water divers tomorrow (Wednesday)!

Checkmate!

After a week and a half of learning how to play chess and all of the strategies that go behind it, the Chess Winterim has begun their final tournament in which all sixteen students will play through a double elimination bracket.

Mr. Z in the Zone

Students playing speed chess

As of this morning (Wednesday) the current bracket stands at:

Skimming the Ocean

Unlike our Underwater Discovery Winterim Group, whose adventures lie below the surface of the water, the Adventures in Sailing group coasts along the ocean surface learning how to maneuver a sailing vessel and observing marine and island life from above.

As reported on their blog entry, on Monday, they were able to snorkel along the reef in the Statia Marine Park.  This was after a morning of knot tying tests.  Later that day they enjoyed a dinner out off the boat with ice cream, a wonderful refreshing treat for the whole group.

On Tuesday their day began at 5 a.m. with a 3 hour hike up a volcano, "The Quill" (which should have taken them 6 hours!), and then continued with 7 hours of sailing over 38 miles of ocean to their next island!  Read more from their latest entry on their blog. This group is most definitely having an adventure of a lifetime.  We wish them continued good weather, calm seas and safe travels!

And the Moral of the Story is... You Can Trust the System? Man

Students standing at the Jefferson Memorial

On Monday morning, the System Winterim flew down to Washington D.C. and arrived safely at their hotel. That night, the group went for a walking tour around the D.C. area and saw locations such as the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial.

Yesterday, the group traveled around the D.C. area to visit various people and places that are important in the United States Federal Government. The group will continue to travel around D.C. today, before they head home on Thursday.

The locations and people that the group visited yesterday and will visit today are: Congress, various legislators, the Supreme Court, the FBI, various attorneys, and various cabinet officials.

The goal of this Winterim was for students to see and understand the inner workings of the United States government and  the various levels of the Judicial System.

Rewarding Yet Exhausting

In the HeadStart Winterim, thirty three Lawrence Academy Students have been helping out at various schools in Lawrence, MA and Lowell, MA. Mr. Woo, on of the faculty leaders of the HeadStart Winterim, has been leading eight students who act as teachers in eight different classrooms in Lawrence, MA. The schools we can find LA students helping out are the Common Street School, the Boys and Girls Club, Casa Roja, the Park Street School and another school in Methuen. Mr. Gagnon, Mr. Bates and Mr. Mitchell are leading twenty five students who are each acting as teachers in various classrooms in Lowell.

During their days helping as teachers, students work alongside two to four professional teachers and help to lead anywhere from eight to twenty children, ranging from ages three to five. While acting as a teacher, students helped manage the children during breakfast and lunch, manage play stations, help with reading and crafts, hold lessons on numbers and colors, help with recess activities, and modeling to the children how to be kind, sharing and respectful. Over the past week and a half of helping out in the classrooms, many Lawrence Academy students have formed friendly attachments to the students they are teaching. Students also expressed their new-found appreciation for teachers, especially those teaching preschool and elementary students.

Vamos a la Playa

The From the Ground Up Winterim group has sent this update about their first day in a new part of the Dominican Republic, having left El Mango, the community they were working with for the first week and a half of Winterim:


Hola amigos!

Today (Tuesday) was bittersweet, as we left the mountains of Yasica for the playa (beach) of Las Canas. Although we were sad to say good-bye to the leaders and people we had met while working in the schools and on the construction site, everyone was excited to see a new part of the DR and experience Dominican life at the beach.

We arrived at the Beach Comber, which could not offer a more lovely or serene ocean view. After checking into our rooms, we headed to the Mariposa Foundation, where we met up with the other DR Winterim group and learned about the Foundation, as well as the project that group was working on. It was great for the students to see what other work was happening in the DR, as well as for them to have lunch and say hi to the other LA students! The Mariposa Foundation works with local girls and young women to help prevent generational poverty through education and support groups. It was beneficial for both Winterim groups to learn about the work each other had been doing and the many different ways to contribute to helping a community.

After lunch, we returned to the Beach Comber, where we had some truly genuine and thoughtful reflection time as a group. We focused specifically on what it felt like to be "the other" in a new place in terms of thinking about race, socioeconomic status, and language. We also discussed the importance of being "unplugged" this trip, and what it felt like for the students to not have technology (phones, tablets, Wi-Fi, etc). As they have done each evening with the reflections, the students impressed us with their insight and honesty. Students talked about how they realized for the first time how fortunate they are and how  much they take for granted. They also discussed the difference being "poor" and "living in poverty," meaning it's one thing to lead an empty life but have a lot of material possessions, versus if they lead a full, community-driven life, but not necessarily have a lot of material wealth. In terms of the technology, it was refreshing to hear how much they enjoyed not having their phones. This group has bonded in such a way that they have truly become a Winterim family, and they unanimously attributed that to the lack of available technology.

Tomorrow (Wednesday), we will be taking a boat tour to learn about the marine wildlife in this area, as well as visiting different beaches. We will have a culminating reflection and discuss a "Call to Action" plan, where we will encourage the students to take what they have learned from this trip and apply it to their lives back home.

This trip has been one to remember, and we know our last day here will not disappoint. We are looking forward to enjoying the last of our time in the DR, and we know the students are as well.

Sending ocean waves and warm breezes,
Kacey and Rob

What's in a Game?

What does it take to create a board game from scratch? Mr. Dawson explained, "Every game can be reduced down to its simple abstract elements." (i.e. rolling a dice, moving a piece one block at a time, etc.) The theme of the game is what makes it entertaining to play, not the actual basics behind it. Besides the typical glue, marker, dice, hard-stock paper, cards, game pieces, and spinners -  it takes creativity, innovation, problem-solving and patience to invent a well-designed board game.

The professionals working with this group are Sam Liberty and Kevin Spak from Spoiled Flush Games.  These board game designers have a few published games either on the market or coming soon, such as Foresooth, Clusterfight (pre-order), Gladiators (coming soon), Cosmic Pizza (coming soon).

Josh, Ian, and James have created a 2-4 player game, which is yet untitled. It's purpose is to out play your opponents by earning more points in each of the four sections of the game board. Economics and real estate development are involved with the theme of this game.

Anh, Frank, and Gavi have crafted a 2-player game which also has no title yet. It is a typical war-type game requiring one player to out maneuver another with better use of resources and plans of attacks.

Abe, Philippe, and Dan are the masterminds behind a 2-4 player game, also untitled.  They described it as a space exploration money-making game, but they are really creating a universe planet by planet.

LEADing by Learning to . . .

. . . be yourself while also being a member of a diverse group.

. . . carefully traverse across a wire suspended between two trees while someone else controls your safety rope.

. . . collaboratively build a fire with wet wood on snow-covered ground in freezing temperatures.

. . . strategically solve a problem which requires all members of the group to participate with focus and control.

. . . accept and appreciate each others differences realizing that these differences is what makes your group an effective team.